Pulp Fiction’s Uma Thurman and Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor will star as secret lesbian lovers in upcoming period drama The Housekeeper.
Thurman will play housekeeper Danni while Dynevor takes on the role of real-life novelist Daphne du Maurier. They will be joined by Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins, who portrays the widowed Lord DeWithers, the owner of Manderville Hall, in the drama set in the 30s.
The film, to be directed by Notes on a Scandal and Iris filmmaker Richard Eyre, is based on a script by award-winning author Rose Tremain, adapted from her own short story and forthcoming novel. It’s a fictionalised telling of the inspiration behind Du Maurier’s classic gothic tale Rebecca.
‘Love, fear, desire, ambition, death and legacy’
According to Variety: “Rose Tremain’s story grapples with love, fear, fiction, desire, ambition, death and legacy, while providing us with complex, nuanced characters and unexpected shifts in audience sympathy.”
Eyre said: “The cast and I hold in our hands a story as rich and turbulent as the landscape that it inhabits, with Manderville Hall holding secrets and emotional intrigue within its historic walls.”
Filming of The Housekeeper is expected to begin early next year.
Phoebe Dynevor plays Daphne in hit Netflix period drama Bridgerton, a role that earned her a BAFTA nomination. Earlier this year, the production team behind the hit show hinted at further LGBTQ+ representation in the series.
Fans were disappointed that Dynevor didn’t appear in the show’s recent third season.
The actor last appeared in season two of the series on her own, without her on-screen husband Page, who previously confirmed he would not be returning to the show.
She told Screen Rant at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah: “Sadly not in season three. Potentially in the future. But season three, I’m just excited to watch as a viewer.”
She later told Variety that the decision to leave was simply because her character’s storyline felt complete. “Well I did my two seasons,” she said.
“I’ve done what I wanted to do with that character and she had a great arc. If they ask me back in the future, who knows?”
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